Mom seeks leniency for woman who glued kid's hands to wall

Elizabeth Escalona, 23, enters a courtroom for sentencing, in Dallas on Monday. Escalona pleaded guilty on July 12 to injury to a child and is facing up to life in prison. A doctor has testified that the Texas mother glued her 2-year-old daughter's hands to a wall and beat the toddler so badly that she suffered significant brain trauma and bleeding inside her skull.

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DALLAS — A Dallas woman who admitted beating her 2-year-old daughter and gluing her hands to a wall is "not a monster" and deserves probation, the child's grandmother told a judge Tuesday.

Elizabeth Escalona faces from probation to life in prison, and prosecutors are seeking a 45-year prison sentence. She pleaded guilty in July to felony injury to a child. Police say the 23-year-old mother attacked Jocelyn Cedillo in September 2011 because she was mad about potty training problems.

Testimony in the sentencing hearing was to continue Wednesday.

Police records show that Escalona's other children told authorities she kicked Jocelyn in the stomach and hit her with a jug of milk. They said Escalona then glued Jocelyn's hands to the wall with a type of strong adhesive commonly known as Super Glue.

Jocelyn suffered bleeding in her brain, a fractured rib, multiple bruises and bite marks, and was in a coma for a couple of days. Some skin had been torn off her hands, where doctors also found glue residue and white paint chips from the apartment wall.

"Only a monster would glue her daughter's hands and give her a brain injury," prosecutor Eren Price said Tuesday during the sentencing hearing.

But the toddler's grandmother, Ofelia Escalona, said her daughter "made a mistake. She's not a monster. She needs help." Ofelia Escalona tearfully asked the judge to sentence her daughter to probation, saying she could be "fixed" and needed to work to support her children. The grandmother now takes care of Elizabeth Escalona's five children, including a baby born this year and Jocelyn, who has recovered.

Prosecutors also played recordings in which Elizabeth Escalona as a teenager threatened to kill her mother. They said she was a former gang member who started smoking marijuana at age 11.

Ofelia Escalona said her daughter was abused as a child and that she should have helped her, though she also said Elizabeth did not tell her about the alleged abuse until a few days ago.

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I'd give her the same treatment.... gluing her hands to the wall and beating the crap out of her.
she is completely mentally screwed up and needs to be sterilized and thrown in prison where when the convicts know what she did , hopefully will give her the same treatment over and over.

in their right mind would give two seconds thought to giving this slime ball , druggie, banger, child abuser, probation. She can be "fixed" , oh yes, spayed and put away for at least 18 years without parole so these kids are not exposed any further to this monster mama.

This thing is just flat out mean and the only reason in my opinion that grandma wants her out is that grandma doesn't want to take care of all those kids.

Yes, she should be "fixed"- made sterile so no more children will suffer.
And the grandmother is the one in need of help to raise those five kids. But I don't think the children should be under her eye either if she allowed her daughter to be abused without doing anything about it. God, please protect these babies.

Those were my thoughts exactly. The grandmother doesn't want the responsibility to raise 5 children so she tells the judge that her daugther needs probation. Give me a break that girl needs some serious help! I pray that God protects these children from their evil mom.

I agree with many of the previous comments, she does not deserve these childen and neither does the grandmother if she allowed her child to run wild and become this way at age 11. Grandma doesn't seem to have been a good mother either, she will do more damage to these kids as well because at her age, she will neglect them like she did her own daughter. You can't fix "MEAN AND STUPID".. These children deserve a decent life. Perhaps someone will take them to raise and give them a better life. Lock her up for a long time, yes and glue her hands to the wall and beat her sorry behind so she will know what she did to that poor, innocent baby....I believe in an eye for an eye.